Know your rights! An adolescent-friendly version of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

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In order to make indigenous adolescents knowledgeable on issues important to them and to support their active participation in decision-making processes to secure their rights, UNICEF has – in collaboration with the Secretariat of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus – developed an adolescent-friendly version of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) that targets 13- to 18-year-old children.

The adoption of UNDRIP in 2007 was the result and highlight of many years of work, and for indigenous peoples – numbering more than 370 million in some 90 countries around the world, the Declaration is an expression of their rights and place in the global community. It is therefore important that indigenous young people become acquainted with its provisions.

Written for a global adolescent audience, the adolescent-friendly UNDRIP provides background information on the international indigenous rights movement and the importance of the Declaration and summarizes its articles to highlight their essence. It is hoped that this adolescent-friendly version will soon be translated from English into indigenous and other United Nations languages.

The adolescent-friendly version of UNDRIP is set to be launched officially during a side event to the May 2013 session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York.